


prelude

by elderflowergin



Series: two-headed dragon [2]
Category: Hyena (TV 2020)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderflowergin/pseuds/elderflowergin
Summary: This, once again, owes its existence to godmother @thefeastandthefast. She abets all my terrible ideas and reshapes them into better ones. I am blessed as fuck and thankful as all-out.
Series: two-headed dragon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882501
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	prelude

**Author's Note:**

> This, once again, owes its existence to godmother @thefeastandthefast. She abets all my terrible ideas and reshapes them into better ones. I am blessed as fuck and thankful as all-out.

If Mr Park had cried in front of her, things would have been very different. 

The thing was, he hadn’t. He was a gym instructor, buff and gorgeous with absolutely no guile. It was shocking to Geum-ja that he’d survived so long being as heinously stupid as he was, but courses for horses and all that, she thought. 

He had simply sat, face like stone, eyes shining wet. The tears were undoubtedly there, but he wouldn’t let them go; instead, he held them in, held himself together with whatever little fortitude he had left in him, and took the news of his latest loss like a practice punch - painfully, and no less so for the anticipation. 

Jung Geum-ja hated divorce cases. She detested custody cases even more. Every child seemed like they’d do better just raising themselves than to depend on either - usually incompetent - parent but Mr Park was different. He seemed like he did little else but live for little Miss Park, and worst of all, he was kind to Geum-ja about the outcome. 

“Thank you, Jung-byeonhosanim,” he’d whispered, formally, mouth set straight. “You did everything, I know you did. Her lawyers were just too much.” 

He should have just cried, she thought. Gotten angry at her, flipped a table or two like the gangsters and the loan sharks. She could handle rage and grief. But he hadn’t. He settled for a weekend every other fortnight with the love of his life, paid the legal bills promptly and bowed deeply when he left. Like she’d done anything at all. 

Jung Geum-ja wasn’t just dismayed; she was in actual, outright fury. 

-

Mr Park’s story intersected with the erstwhile Mrs Park at BodyPump class one evening at an upscale gym near her office in Seocho-dong; she invited him for coffee, he gave her free private training classes, and the rest was history. They married, and then had a baby girl, and Mr Park took time off work to take care of their daughter as Mrs Park rose up through the ranks. 

And then Mrs Park wanted a divorce, and worse still, wanted little Miss Park all to herself in the bargain. 

Ji-eun walked through the cramped front door, past boxes piled dangerously high. “Boss,” she said plaintively. “Still thinking about Mr Park?”

Geum-ja frowned, a little confused. Ji-eun pointed at her table. “You haven’t let me pack his files away, and they’re right in front of you even though it’s been concluded and he’s paid all his bills.” 

“The window for an appeal is still open,” she said idly. “Maybe I’ve missed something.”

“Like what? We’ve covered everything, boss. His lawyers kept drowning us in all kinds of applications and ten-page long letters about everything that goes wrong when Mr Park goes to see his daughter, and they know those family court judges really well. We can’t compete against that.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I need a solution that doesn’t go to the family court, then.” 

“The appellate court?”

“But one that isn’t expensive; Mr Park isn’t a man of means.” 

Ji-eun contemplated, and then her eyes got very large. “You want her to change her mind. But how?” 

“Let’s go back to those ten-page letters. Let’s see what they’re hiding.” 

-

Geum-ja was sleeping at her table when her desk phone rang. 

“I found it, boss,” said Ji-eun, triumphant at 4 am. “Where is Mrs Park going every third Saturday at 11 pm?” 

She was perplexed. “That sounds -- she’s not at home?” 

“Nope,” said Ji-eun, tired but gleeful. “Maybe there’s a clue there.” 

“I’m going to put Ju-ho on it if he’s got the time. Good job,” she complimented, threw her phone down and went back to sleep. 

-

They sat together in Ju-ho’s humid car, leather smells rising off the hot seats. 

“She’s going to a club in Seocho-dong,” said Ju-ho, flipping his notebook. “Eternal Flame.” 

Geum-ja whistled at that. “That place is very exclusive. I used to hear about it at Janus. High society, invitation-only.” 

“Any idea how you might be able to get in?” 

She stared out the front of her car window, at the endless rows of cars in front of them. “Maybe Darius can help,” she mused, picking up her phone and dialling. "Darius? Remember when I rescued you from Mdm Lee’s husband?"

An exasperated voice sighed at the other end. "Did we not teach you well, Eun-young? Like how to answer the phone like a civilised person?” 

"I need an invite to Eternal Flame."

“Why?” 

She sighed. 

“I’m a lonely woman, Darius, a very lonely--”

“I beg you, please-”

“I just want the touch of a man -- no, I need it, like --” 

He sounded like he was knocking his head against something. “I will pay you to stop,” he declared fervently. “I’ll get you five invites if you want, just stop.”

“Thank you, oppa, much obliged,” she said with a bow, even if it was only over the phone. “How much would I owe you?”

“It’s obviously for something dodgy, so let me never hear about what it is and we’re square. Eh, Eun-young? You have to dress the part, alright?”

Geum-ja rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to wear a suit and stomp in, if that’s what you think.”

Darius snorted. “Kid, do you even own other clothes?”

-

Geum-ja stepped out of the narrow doorway and sashayed into the office, the leopard-print dress swishing around her calves. She examined her reflection; she was curvaceous, with a softness in her face and in her eyes that seemed completely new, and somehow familiar all at the same time. 

Ji-eun blinked. “Boss,” she commented. “That’s -- that’s pretty good. Maybe a strong lip.” 

Darius nodded, perfectly-shellacked brown hair barely moving as he did so. “You can’t go in with that walk of yours, though, or that attitude,” he remarked, slicing his fingers across his unnaturally smooth neck. “You know, with a lady’s manners, but in control like a man. You know what I mean?”

She slowly drew her hands to her hips and angled herself in the mirror, thinking of Madam Lee and the ladies at Janus as she did so - 

Ji-eun rubbed at her arms furiously, like she’d suddenly gotten the chills. Darius gasped and pointed at her. “That -- what did you just do? What was that?” 

“I think,” she said, drawing up her chin in the mirror, “that was it.” 

-

Geum-ja settled into her strappy gold sandals with a quick shuffle - at least that part was easy, just like the nights she’d worked at Janus. The dress flowed around her and felt about as silky-soft on her bare skin as it looked. The extensions were a little more challenging to get accustomed to, but they’d feel right soon enough. 

The club was in an exclusive part of Seocho-dong; clearly Mrs Park liked her work and play in the same neighbourhood. How predictable, she thought, swishing her way up the stairs, heels sinking into the carpet. 

The host was a beautiful, neatly made-up man who must have been in his early twenties, if that. He gave her a stunning smile. 

“Good evening. Can I have your name, Madam?” 

Her smile was all teeth, with a sting of sharpness at the end. When she spoke, her voice was airy and light; she looked at him from under her eyelashes. Coy, but knowing. 

It felt like wearing a second skin.

“Hello. I’m Kim Hee-sun.”

-

**Author's Note:**

> elderflowergin: feast, I can't write about Kim Hee-sun can I 
> 
> (three days later...) 
> 
> elderflowergin: feast I think I can't not write about Kim Hee-sun and also here is a thing about Kim Hee-sun


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